Fabricating method for quartz vial

ABSTRACT

In a fabricating method for a quartz vial having a body part for containing a substance, a bottom part closing a lower end of the body part, a cylindrical neck part disposed at an upper end of the body part, a cylindrical mouth part disposed above the neck part and having an outer diameter larger than that of the neck part, and a tapered portion connecting the mouth part and the neck part to each other, outer peripheral surfaces of the tapered portion and the neck part are formed by shaving, and the body part that is separately fabricated is welded to the neck part. Thus, quartz vials having a predetermined shape can be mass-fabricated.

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/309,690, filed Dec. 13, 2018, which is a national stageentry of PCT/JP2018/023283, filed Jun. 19, 2018, which claims priorityto JP 2017-125123, filed Jun. 27, 2017. The disclosures of eachreference are incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a fabricating method for a vial usedfor containing a chemical agent or the like.

BACKGROUND ART

Chemical agents or vaccines may be stored in a vial for containing andstoring chemical agent for months or sometimes years. For such purposes,vials for chemical agent made of hard glass, such as borosilicate glass,have been conventionally used. However, in some cases where a chemicalagent is stored in a vial made of hard glass for a long time, boron,sodium or the like contained in the material of the vial may elute intothe chemical agent, which causes a problem in the preservation of thechemical agent.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: JP 2005-192888 A ([0019] and FIG. 2)

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

There are many kind of glasses including doped glass, such as theabove-described hard glass, in which silicon dioxide is added withvarious elements according to purposes, and quartz glass made of highpurity silicon dioxide. The above-described problem can be solved byusing a vial made of quartz glass, but it has been very difficult tomake a vial having the same shape as that of the conventional vial madeof hard glass from a quartz material in a large quantity and at areduced cost by a method similar to conventional method.

A mouth part 81 of a vial 80 is plugged with a resin plug 90 which ismade of an elastomer material such as butyl rubber and can be pierced byan injection needle (FIG. 8A). The resin plug 90 is covered with a lid95 (a vial cap) made of relatively soft metal such as aluminum (FIG.8B), and then, as shown in FIG. 8C, the lid 95 is caulked (tightlycrimped) to be thus tightly closed (see Patent Literature 1). Here, itis important to provide a predetermined shape on the side of the vial 80rather than on the side of the resin plug 90 in order to securely sealthe vial 80 with the resin plug 90 and the lid 95 and achieve along-term storage of contents.

More specifically, it is necessary to form a tapered portion 82 havingan inversely tapered outer diameter downward between the mouth part 81of the vial 80 and a neck 83 located under the mouth part 81 in order tosecurely caulk (tightly crimp) the lid 95 (see FIGS. 8A to 8C).

In case of a typical vial 80 made of doped glass such as borosilicateglass, the mouth part 81 and the tapered portion 82 having theabove-described shape are formed by hot working. However, quartz glasshas a very high softening temperature, and is difficult to form by hotworking, resulting in difficulty in mass-fabricating vials with a mouthpart and a tapered portion having precise shapes.

In view of the above, a problem to be solved by the present invention isto provide a method capable of fabricating numerous quartz vials havinga predetermined shape.

Solution to Problem

According to the present invention accomplished to solve theabove-described problem, a fabricating method for a quartz vial having abody part for containing a substance, a bottom part closing a lower endof the body part, a cylindrical neck part disposed at an upper end ofthe body part, a cylindrical mouth part disposed above the neck part andhaving an outer diameter larger than that of the neck part, and atapered portion connecting the mouth part and the neck part includes thestep of forming an outer peripheral surface of the tapered portion byshaving.

In the fabricating method for a quartz vial according to the presentinvention, the outer peripheral surface of the tapered portion is formedby shaving, thus enabling the quartz vial having the tapered portionhaving a precisely predetermined shape to be fabricated. Consequently,it is possible to mass-fabricate quartz vials for long-term storage of achemical agent or the like and having excellent sealing capability.“Shaving” may include grinding, cutting, polishing, and the like.

With the fabricating method for a quartz vial according to the presentinvention, it is desirable that an outer peripheral surface of the neckpart be formed also by shaving.

In this case, either of the outer peripheral surface of the taperedportion and the outer peripheral surface of the neck part may be formedfirst. In any way, having is performed in such a manner that an end ofthe tapered portion having a smaller outer diameter comes smoothly toone end of the neck part.

With the fabricating method for a quartz vial according to the presentinvention, it is also desirable that an inner peripheral surface of themouth part be formed by shaving.

As a method for forming the body part of the quartz vial, there are twomethods: (1) a method of making the body part out of a quartz glassmember different from a quartz glass member used for forming the taperedportion and its neighboring portions; and (2) a method of making thebody part by hot working out of the quartz glass member, out of whichthe tapered portion and its neighboring portions are made. In the firstmethod, after the body part is made out of different quartz glassmember, the body part is welded to the quartz glass member out of whichthe tapered portion and its neighboring portions is made.

In the first method, the fabricating method for a quartz vial accordingto the present invention having a body part for containing a substance,a bottom part closing a lower end of the body part, a cylindrical neckpart disposed at an upper end of the body part, a cylindrical mouth partdisposed above the neck part and having an outer diameter larger thanthat of the neck part, and a tapered portion connecting the mouth partand the neck part includes the steps of: forming outer peripheralsurfaces of the tapered portion and the neck part by shaving; andjoining, to the neck part, the body part that is separately fabricated.

Here, in joining the body part to the neck part, the lower end of thebody part may or may not be closed by the bottom part. In the latter,after joining the body part is completed, the lower end of the body partis thermally closed, thus forming the bottom part. Alternatively, aseparately formed bottom part may be welded to the body part.

It is desirable that in joining the body part to the neck part, thetapered portion adjacent to the neck part have the mouth part at an endopposite to the neck part. This mouth part may be formed integrally withthe tapered portion and the neck part, or the mouth part may be formedseparately from the tapered portion and the neck part, and then weldedto the tapered portion. Additionally, inner peripheral surfaces of themouth part, the tapered portion, and the neck part are formed prior tojoining the body part to the neck part. Also at this time, the innerperipheral surfaces are desirably formed by shaving.

Alternatively, in the first method, a separately fabricated neck partmay be welded to the tapered portion having the outer peripheral surfaceformed by shaving.

Another fabricating method for a quartz vial according to the presentinvention in the first method having a body part for containing asubstance, a bottom part closing a lower end of the body part, acylindrical neck part disposed at an upper end of the body part, acylindrical mouth part disposed above the neck part and having an outerdiameter larger than that of the neck part, and a tapered portionconnecting the mouth part and the neck part includes the steps of:forming an outer peripheral surface of the tapered portion by shaving;and joining, to the tapered portion, the neck part that is separatelyfabricated.

In this case, in joining the neck part to the tapered portion, the bodypart (or the body part and the bottom part) may be disposed at the neckpart at an end opposite to a side on which the tapered portion will bewelded. The body part (or the body part and the bottom part) may beformed integrally with the neck part. The body part may be formedseparately from the neck part, and then welded to the neck part.

It is desirable that in joining the neck part to the tapered portion,the mouth part be disposed at the tapered portion at an end opposite tothe side on which the neck part will be welded. This mouth part may beformed integrally with the tapered portion. Alternatively, the mouthpart may be formed separately from the tapered portion, and then weldedto the tapered portion.

The inner peripheral surfaces of the mouth part and the tapered portionare formed prior to joining the neck part to the tapered portion. Alsoat this time, the inner peripheral surfaces are desirably formed byshaving.

“Joining” according to the present invention typically means bringingheated glasses into contact with each other, that is, thermal fusion. Inaddition to that, other joining methods may be used, for example,room-temperature joining such as surface activated bonding, hydrofluoricacid bonding, and optical contact.

In the second method (2) described before, the fabricating method for aquartz vial according to the present invention having a body part forcontaining a substance, a bottom part closing a lower end of the bodypart, a cylindrical neck part disposed at an upper end of the body part,a cylindrical mouth part disposed above the neck part and having anouter diameter larger than that of the neck part, and a tapered portionconnecting the mouth part and the neck part includes the steps of:forming an outer peripheral surface of the tapered portion and an outerperipheral surface of the neck part by shaving a quartz glass member;and forming the body part by hot working a portion of the quartz glassmember adjacent to the neck part.

Here, “hot working” means forming with thermally softening or fusingquartz glass. In the above-described fabricating method, the step offorming the tapered portion and the neck part and the step of formingthe body part may be performed in this order or in a reversed order. Inthe step of forming the body part, the bottom part may be formedtogether with the body part. Alternatively, only the body part may beformed first, and then, the bottom part made of another quartz glassmember may be welded to the body part.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a quartz vial fabricated bythe first method.

Specifically, the quartz vial according to the present inventionincludes a body part for containing a substance, a bottom part closing alower end of the body, a cylindrical neck part disposed at an upper endof the body part, a cylindrical mouth part disposed above the neck partand having an outer diameter larger than that of the neck part, and atapered portion connecting the mouth part and the neck part. Here, thequartz vial includes a welded portion of quartz glass members at aposition between a lower end of the tapered portion and a lower end ofthe body part.

The fabricating method for a quartz vial according to the presentinvention is applicable to the above-described vial sealed with a resinplug and a lid as well as a vial (i.e., a vial of a screwed mouth type)sealed with a screw cap. In this case, the fabricating method for aquartz vial according to the present invention having a body part forcontaining a substance, a bottom part closing a lower end of the bodypart, and a cylindrical mouth part disposed at an upper end of the bodypart and having a thread at an outer peripheral surface, includes thestep of forming the thread by shaving.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

In the fabricating method for a quartz vial according to the presentinvention, the tapered portion (or the tapered portion and the neckpart) of the quartz vial is formed by shaving, and therefore, it ispossible to fabricate the quartz vial having the tapered portion (or thetapered portion and the neck part) precisely having a predeterminedshape. Consequently, it is possible to mass-fabricate quartz vialscapable of long-term storage of a chemical agent or the like andexcellent sealing capability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the shapes and dimensions of a quartz vialand a rubber plug attached to a mouth part of the quartz vial in a firstembodiment according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are views for describing a fabricating method for thequartz vial in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view for describing another example of the fabricatingmethod for the quartz vial in the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a view for describing a further example of the fabricatingmethod for the quartz vial in the present embodiment.

FIGS. 5A to 5B is a view for describing a still further example of thefabricating method for the quartz vial in the present embodiment.

FIGS. 6A to 6C is a view for describing a fabricating method for ascrewed vial by the fabricating method for the quartz vial in thepresent embodiment.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are views for describing a fabricating method for aquartz vial in a second embodiment according to the present invention.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are views for describing a sealing method for a vial, inwhich FIG. 8A shows a state in which a resin plug is attached to a mouthpart of the vial; FIG. 8B shows a state in which the resin plug iscovered with an aluminum cap; and FIG. 8C shows a state in which thealuminum cap is caulked.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Modes for carrying out the present invention will be described withreference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a quartz vial 10 and a rubber plug 20(a resin plug) attached to the quartz vial 10 in a first embodimentaccording to the present invention. The quartz vial 10 is entirely madeof quartz glass, and includes a cylindrical body part 14 for containingsubstances such as a chemical agent, a bottom part 15 for closing thelower end of the body part 14, a cylindrical neck part 13 that isdisposed at the upper end of the body part 14 and has a smaller outerdiameter than that of the body part 14, a cylindrical mouth part 11 thatis disposed above the neck part 13 and has a larger outer diameter thanthat of the neck part 13, and a tapered portion 12 connecting the mouthpart 11 and the neck part 13 to each other. Through holes having thesame diameter axially extend through the respective centers of the mouthpart 11, the tapered portion 12, and the neck part 13, thus forming apassage from the upper end of the mouth part 11 to the lower end of theneck part 13. The passage communicates with the inside space of the bodypart 14.

The rubber plug 20 is made of, for example, butyl rubber, and includes aplug part 21 that is inserted into the hole formed at the mouth part 11of the quartz vial 10 and a disk part 22 that is brought into contactwith the upper surface of the mouth part 11 when the plug part 21 isinserted into the mouth part 11 of the quartz vial 10.

The outer diameter of the mouth part 11 of the quartz vial 10 is equalto the diameter of the disk part 22 of the rubber plug 20, andfurthermore, the inner diameter of the base 11 part (i.e., the diameterof the through hole) is equal to the outer diameter of the plug part 21of the rubber plug 20. Moreover, the outer diameter of the upper end ofthe tapered portion 12 of the quartz vial 10 is equal to the outerdiameter of the mouth part 11 whereas the outer diameter of the lowerend of the tapered portion 12 is equal to the outer diameter of the neckpart 13. The respective dimensions of the component parts areexemplified in FIG. 1.

A fabricating method for the quartz vial 10 in the present embodimentwill be explained below with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C. First, aquartz glass member having a predetermined shape and a predeterminedsize is prepared, and then, is subjected to hot working or grinding bythe use of a grinding wheel, thus fabricating the mouth part 11, theneck part 13, and the tapered portion 12 of the quartz vial 10 (theupper section of FIG. 2A). At this time, the outer peripheral surface ofat least the tapered portion 12 (desirably, the tapered portion 12 andthe neck part 13) is formed by grinding. The inner peripheral surfacesof the mouth part 11, the tapered portion 12, and the neck part 13 maybe subjected to grinding. The body part 14 without a bottom is made ofanother quartz glass member (hereinafter referred to as a second quartzglass member) other than the above-described quartz glass member(hereinafter referred to as a first quartz glass member). The body part14 is provided with an upper opening 14 a having the same outer diameterand the same inner diameter as those of the neck part 13 (the lowersection of FIG. 2A). The body part 14 can be fabricated, for example, byusing a quartz glass tube as the second quartz glass member and bynarrowing its diameter by a drawing roller while heating one end thereofwith a burner.

Thereafter, the lower end of the neck part 13 made of the first quartzglass member and the peripheral edge of the upper opening 14 a of thebody part 14 made of the second quartz glass member are heated by theburner, and then, they are brought into contact with each other, so thatthe part made of the first quartz glass member and the part made of thesecond quartz glass member are thermally fused to each other (FIG. 2B).Here, the outer peripheral surface of the tapered portion 12 (or thetapered portion 12 and the neck part 13) is ground into a frostedsurface, and therefore, it is desirable that the frosted surface shouldbe heated by the burner during the thermal fusion to smoothly fuse thesurface having fine unevenness.

Subsequently, the lower end of the body part 14 is sealed while beingheated, thus forming the bottom part 15 of the quartz vial 10 (FIG. 2C).As a consequence, the quartz vial 10 is completed as a product.

In FIGS. 2A to 2C, the part made of the first quartz glass member andthe part made of the second quartz glass member are welded to each otherin the state in which the lower end of the body part 14 (i.e., an endopposite to the upper opening 14 a) is open. However, the lower end ofthe body part 14 may be sealed (i.e., the bottom part 15 of the quartzvial 10 may be formed), before the part made of the first quartz glassmember and the part made of the second quartz glass member may be weldedto each other.

Alternatively, the quartz vial 10 in the present embodiment may befabricated by separately forming a part integrally formed with the mouthpart 11 and the tapered portion 12 and a part integrally formed with theneck part 13, the body part 14, and the bottom part 15, as shown in FIG.3, and then, by joining these two parts to each other. Alternatively,the quartz vial 10 in the present embodiment may be fabricated byseparately fabricating a part integrally formed with the mouth part 11and the tapered portion 12, a part consisting of the neck part 13, and apart integrally formed with the body part 14 and the bottom part 15, asshown in FIG. 4, and then, by joining these three parts to each other.In any cases, the outer peripheral surface of at least the taperedportion 12 (desirably, the tapered portion 12 and the neck part 13) isformed by shaving. At this time, the bottom part 15 may be formed (thatis, the lower end of the body part 14 may be sealed) before or after thejoining.

In the case where a quartz vial 40 having a conically recessed innerbottom shown in FIG. 5B is fabricated, a first part 46 obtained byintegrally forming a mouth part 41, a tapered portion 42, and a neckpart 43, a second part 47 serving as an upper portion 44 b of a bodypart 44, and a third part 48 having a conically recessed inner bottomand serving as a lower portion 44 c of the body part 44 are separatelyfabricated, as shown in, for example, FIG. 5A. The quartz vial 40 isfabricated by joining these three parts 46, 47, and 48. Here, althoughthe neck part 43 is formed integrally with the mouth part 41 and thetapered portion 42 in FIG. 5A, the neck part 43 may be formed integrallywith the upper portion of the body part 44 instead.

Moreover, the fabricating method for the quartz vial according to thepresent invention is applicable to a quartz vial of a screwed mouthtype. As shown in FIG. 6C, a quartz vial 50 of a screwed mouth type isprovided with a mouth part 51 having a thread 51 a at the upper end of abody part 54 for contaninig a chemical agent or the like. A fabricatingmethod for the vial 50 of a screwed mouth type will be explained withreference to FIGS. 6A to 6C. First, a cylindrical part is made of aquartz glass member (a first quartz glass member) having a proper sizeand a proper shape by, for example, fusibly molding or the like suchthat the cylindrical part has the same length as that of the mouth part51 of the quartz vial 50 to be fabricated and an outer diameter largerthan that of the mouth part 51 (except for the thread 51 a), and thesame inner diameter as that of the mouth part 51. The outer peripheralsurface of the part is subjected to grinding, thus forming the thread 51a (the upper section of FIG. 6A). Thereafter, in the same manner as thatexplained with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C, the body part 54 without abottom but with the upper opening 54 a is made of a second quartz glassmember having a proper size and a proper shape (the lower section ofFIG. 6A). Next, the part made of the first quartz glass member (i.e.,the mouth part 51) and the part made of the second quartz glass member(i.e., the body part 54) are thermally fused to each other (FIG. 6B).The lower end of the body part 54 is sealed, to thus form a bottom part55, thereby completing the quartz vial 50 of a screwed mouth type (FIG.6C). Also in this case, the outer peripheral surface of the mouth part51 is ground into a frosted surface. In view of this, it is desirablethat the frosted surface should be heated by a burner during the thermalfusion to smoothly fuse the surface having fine unevenness.

The quartz vial fabricated by either one of the above-described methodsin the present embodiment has a welded portion formed by joining thequartz glasses to each other somewhere from the lower end of the taperedportion to the lower end of the body part (in the case of the screwedmouth type, from the lower end of the mouth part to the lower end of thebody part). The quartz vial 10 fabricated by the method shown in, forexample, FIGS. 2A to 2C has a welded portion on the boundary between theneck part 13 and the body part 14. Furthermore, the quartz vial 10fabricated by the method shown in, for example, FIG. 3 has a weldedportion on the boundary between the tapered portion 12 and the neck part13. Additionally, the quartz vial 10 fabricated by the method shown inFIG. 4 has welded portions on the boundary between the tapered portion12 and the neck part 13 and the boundary between the neck part 13 andthe body part 14. Moreover, the quartz vial 40 fabricated by the methodshown in FIGS. 5A and 5B has a welded portion on the boundary betweenthe neck part 43 and the body part 44, and furthermore, a welded portion(reference numeral 44 d in FIG. 5B) somewhere between the upper end andthe lower end of the body part 44. In addition, the quartz vial 50fabricated by the method shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C has a welded portion onthe boundary between the mouth part 51 and the body part 54.

Subsequently, a fabricating method for a quartz vial in a secondembodiment according to the present invention will be explained withreference to FIGS. 7A to 7C. By a fabricating method for a quartz vial10 in the present embodiment, the entire quartz vial is formedintegrally with a single quartz glass member. Here, the shape of thequartz vial 10 that will be a product and the dimension of eachcomponent part are similar to those shown in FIG. 1. First, acylindrical part is made of a quartz glass member having a proper sizeand a proper shape by, for example, fusibly molding or the like.Thereafter, a mouth part 11, a neck part 13, and a tapered portion 12for the quartz vial 10 are formed by hot working by the use of a burner,grinding by the use of a grinding wheel, or the like (FIG. 7A). At thistime, the outer peripheral surface of at least the tapered portion 12(desirably, the tapered portion 12 and the neck part 13) is formed byshaving. Here, a surface is shaved into a frosted surface, andtherefore, it is desirable that the frosted surface should be heated bythe burner or the like to smoothly fuse the surface having fineunevenness. Subsequently, the lower end of the cylindrical part issealed while being heated by the burner, thus forming a bottom part 15of the quartz vial 10 (FIG. 7B). Next, a body part 14 of the quartz vial10 is formed by increasing the inner diameter, outer diameter, andlength of a portion below the neck part 13 (that is, a portion adjacentto the neck part 13 of the cylindrical part and opposite to the taperedportion 12) by blowing (FIG. 7C). As a consequence, the quartz vial 10is completed as a product.

The vial 50 of a screwed mouth type shown in FIG. 6C can be fabricatedby integral forming in the above-described manner. In this case, acylindrical part is made of the quartz glass member having a propeprsize and a proper shape by, for example, fusibly molding or the like,and then, is subjected to grinding, thus achieving a mouth part 51having a thread 51 a. Thereafter, a bottom part 55 is formed by sealingthe lower end of the part in the same method as that explained withreference to FIGS. 7A to 7C. Thereafter, the body part 54 is formed byblowing, thus completing the quartz vial 50 of a screwed mouth type as aproduct.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

10, 40, 50 . . . Quartz Vial

11, 41, 51 . . . Mouth part

51 a . . . Thread

12, 42 . . . Tapered Portion

13, 43 . . . Neck part

14, 44, 54 . . . Body part

14 a, 54 a . . . Upper Opening

44 d . . . Welded Portion

15, 45, 55 . . . Bottom part

20 . . . Rubber Plug

21 . . . Plug part

22 . . . Disk part

1. A fabricating method for a quartz vial having a body part forcontaining a substance, a bottom part closing a lower end of the bodypart, and a cylindrical mouth part disposed at an upper end of the bodypart and having a thread at an outer peripheral surface, the fabricatingmethod comprising the steps of: fabricating the mouth part by formingthe thread at an outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical quartz glassmember by shaving; and joining by thermal fusion, to the mouth part, thebody part that is separately fabricated.
 2. A fabricating method for aquartz vial having a body part for containing a substance, a bottom partclosing a lower end of the body part, and a cylindrical mouth partdisposed at an upper end of the body part and having a thread at anouter peripheral surface, the fabricating method comprising the stepsof: forming the mouth part by shaving a quartz glass member; and formingthe body part by hot working a portion of the quartz glass memberadjacent to the mouth part, wherein the entire quartz vial including thebody part, the bottom part and the mouth part is integrally formed froma single quartz glass member.
 3. The fabricating method for a quartzvial according to claim 1, further comprising the step of forming aninner peripheral surface of the mouth part by shaving.
 4. Thefabricating method for a quartz vial according to claim 2, furthercomprising the step of forming an inner peripheral surface of the mouthpart by shaving.